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User blog:Pinkguy the b0ss/Super Mario Galaxy Review
What's up my Shreks, it's DiamondMinerStudios here. If you were too lazy to read the title, today I'm reviewing Super Mario Galaxy. I'll be honest, I don't feel like giving a long history lesson of the game's development cycle like I usually do, so let's waste no more time and just get into this. Story This game actually has a pretty good story. Even though it really does boil down to the whole "oh no Bowser stole Peach again, you have to go save her!" thing, this is for sure one of the more interesting takes on that basic plot. This time, Bowser steals Peach because he wants to make a whole new galaxy at the center of the universe, where he and Peach will rule over the cosmos forever. He does this by stealing her castle just like in Paper Mario, but with a huge UFO thing instead of his own castle on top of the giant clown car. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this story is its presentation. It starts almost exactly like Super Mario 64, with Peach sending a letter to Mario, telling him to come down and enjoy some cake with her, this time to watch the centenary Star Festival, in which shooting stars rain down on the Mushroom Kingdom. This story is shown through cutscenes, as many of you know, and I think they have aged exceptionally well. The quality of the models and animation of these cutscenes still look great, even 11 years later. It's unimaginable how good they would look if they were in HD. Gameplay You once again take control of the title character as he tries to collect power stars to save Peach. Technically, this game is a collectathon, but it's arguably not a "true" one because the majority of its levels are linear, and the stars are more similar to flagpoles at the end of a level rather than collectables you can grab in almost any order you want. Personally, I prefer the more open 3D Mario gameplay style (the one that 64, Sunshine, and Odyssey (which I still haven't played yet...) have), but the more linear style works very well in this game. All of the levels are designed just as well as the secret stages in Sunshine, and the few open-ended levels (ex. Beach Bowl Galaxy) also have great design. Last, the levels have some pretty creative ideas, be it motion-controlled manta ray surfing or fighting a giant spider by launching at him with a web. Almost every level tries something new, but instead of something like, say, Donkey Kong Country 3, every single one adds something to the gameplay without coming off as jarring. (BTW I'm not trashing that game, it's good... I use parantheses too much) Next, the controls. In short, they're great, but not quite as solid as the control schemes of Super Mario Sunshine or even Super Mario 64. That's mostly because of the inclusion of motion controls (since the Wii is a motion console, duh), and since the Wii didn't have perfect motion in general, some things don't feel as intuitive as they should. However, they aren't the worst thing ever because the motion is at least functional. In contrast, the on-foot controls feel as solid as ever, although the side flip is a bit harder to pull off. One thing about the controls in particular that I love is the spin move. It's almost as good of a jump correction tool as the Hover Nozzle was, and saved my ass from death so many times. It's personally my third favorite 3D Mario move, right behind the long jump and side flip. The powerups are pretty good in general, but a few aren't fully utilized. Also, one just sucks - the Spring Mushroom (bet you didn't see that coming). This thing's controls are absolute garbage and it's very easy to fall off a platform even when standing still. Some people rush to defend this powerup, but I honestly hate the thing and despise every single star that requires its use. Instead of 100% completion like I usually do for 3D Mario titles, I just beat the game at 60 stars. I especially did this since you need to play the game twice to fully complete it, once as Mario and once as Luigi. Doesn't sound too terrible, until you find out what I have to say in the next section. Anyways, that's really all I have to say here. Let's move on to the game's difficulty. Difficulty This game is probably the easiest 3D Mario game I've played so far, but even then there were a few challenging moments. Some boil down to artificial difficulty brought on by something out of your control, but these moments are very few. Despite being overall easy, I still enjoyed Mario Galaxy as a platformer I can play if I just want something relaxing and full of clean fun. However, there are some stars that I absolutely hate. Despite the controls being as great as they are, to me they're not optimized for a few of the stars in this game, namely the nearly impossible boo races and the Battlerock Galaxy secret star (you need to destroy a bunch of trash in 30 seconds using bob-ombs that take 5-7 seconds to explode), which is just artificial difficulty. There's also a ton of absolutely terrible motion-controlled stars, such as the manta ray surfing or the ball rolling. I generally loathe motion controls, and these missions are no exception. They may have been impressive back in 2007 when this kind of thing had never been done, but nowadays.... I'm sorry, they suck ass and are way more frustrating than they are fun, if fun at all. This may sound like a contradiction because I've said the motion was functional earlier, but... not for any of these. And that's still not it, because there's those terrible comet stars. They usually add fake difficulty to a level, like having to beat a boss with only one health. And if that's still ''not enough, there's plenty of other stars I hate, most notably some of the unlockable Hungy Luma stages and a few bosses, also being frustratingly difficult life-drainers. These only serve to drag out 100% completion for far too long, and make getting 100% a royal pain in the ass. This is only made worse by the fact you have to do it all ''AGAIN as Luigi. Despite these flaws, though, the game is not bad, as like I've said before, as all of this terrible stuff is optional. The game is best when you're Mario doing normal platforming, which is what the majority of this game's stars and levels entail. Still, this doesn't excuse the flawed design of these optional stars. Besides this, the only major flaw with the difficulty is the bosses, which there are a bit too many of. Most are easy, a few are unnecessarily frustrating due to involving scrappy mechanics (ex. Spring Mushroom), and a few are a well-designed, genuine challenge. Speaking of bosses, the final Bowser fight is also easy, but is better than 64's (due to the mechanic being fun and not annoying to use) and Sunshine's (for being more aesthetically interesting). Overall, the challenge of Super Mario Galaxy is kind of lacking (minus a few levels and the frustrating things I mentioned earlier), but this comes absolutely nowhere near making the game bad. Soundtrack The overwhelming majority of Super Mario Galaxy's soundtrack is masterful. The rich orchestra sound is stunning, even to this day, and fits the game perfectly. Highlights include Good Egg Galaxy, Honeyhive Galaxy, Gusty Garden Galaxy, the Red Star theme, the themes for the Ice and Fire Flowers, the Comet Observatory, the final Bowser theme, and Freezeflame Galaxy. Despite this, there is one track that I find insufferable - the Baron Brrr theme. The off-key melody and obnoxious structure make it hard on my ears. Otherwise though, the soundtrack gets a pass as one of the best Mario soundtracks. Graphics Good lord, this game is gorgeous. The graphics aren't in HD, but they sure look like they are. The best option for this game is component video, which makes the colors look a lot better. The graphics as a whole look as great as they did in 2007, beating out both 64 and Sunshine in terms of quality. However, and this is ''highly ''subjective... I still prefer the visuals of Sunshine. I don't know exactly what it is, maybe the artstyle. Still, Mario Galaxy has some quality visuals that stand the test of time wonderfully. Conclusion At the end of the day, Super Mario Galaxy is a good game. With great controls, graphics, music, and levels, this game is objectively one of the best Mario games I've played. However, on a personal enjoyment scale... I don't find this game particularly fun to play multiple times, which is something I can't say for other entries in this series. Don't get me wrong, this game is fantastic, but I'll never personally agree with everyone who absolutely gushes over it. This isn't one of my personal favorite Mario games, but I totally understand if it is one of yours. If you haven't played Super Mario Galaxy yet, play it, you won't regret anything. So, how will my personal list be affected when I finish 3D Land? I'll just have to wait and see. Category:Blog posts